Peek-a-boo

...with Robert Downey, Jr. Almost as fun as Spin the Bottle with Johnny Depp, but not quite. I like this drawing...and I plan to keep him as a bookmark (when I reread "50 Shades of Grey"). LOL Just kidding, I can't stomach that soft porn again...and I had it on my Kindle, which has gone missing.

I'm rarely reading (with all the drawing I do) but when I do read it's Riot Kitty's fun and humorous kids' book (that's not just for kids), The Adventures of Black Jack Pepper. I'm only on Chapter 8 but I'll finish!

In this flooded city there is one field that's semi dry and we're heading there for my son's baseball playoff game.

Catch y'all mañana!

Angelina and Gia

Your suggestions were beautiful and fitting for the time, but I had to do something from "Gia," my favorite Angelina movie. She was excellent in it and this quote comes from Gia's journal.

"...heaven on earth
back again
into
under
far in between
through it
in it
and above..."

I believe Gia Carangi was the first famous woman to die of AIDS...and she was a fashion model so you see her go from glamour to dust throughout the movie. It's a sad and powerful film, but so well made and why Angelina didn't get an award for it is beyond me. She should've won an Oscar but I think it was a TV Movie and I don't believe they give Oscars for those. Naomi would know.

Here's the trailer in case you missed it:

angie baby

I started my Angelina drawing and I'm not sure what I'll put on her arm yet. Any ideas? Definitely not Billy Bob! lol

That was Young Angelina and she has definitely grown up and become such an inspiration lately...going public about her family history of cancer and her recent surgeries. My great grandmother died of ovarian cancer and my grandmother fought and beat breast cancer but died of uterine cancer a few years ago. I don't think I would choose to have a double masectomy or a total hysterectomy for preventative reasons at this time in my life, but I will be having a serious conversation with my doctor on my next visit and make sure I have all my tests up to date.

Let's all get checked!

frida, twiggy and free art friday

This is my Frida in colored pencil looking badass, I know, but she always did have a bit of an attitude, didn't she? It's one of the things we (and I'm sure Diego) loved about her.

This drawing reminds me of the quote by Arundhati Roy: “She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes. She spoke to no one. She spent hours on the riverbank. She smoked cigarettes and had midnight swims...” 

I think more women should put flowers in their hair. It's so feminine and stylish, not that Frida was all that feminine but yes, we should bring this look back. Unfortunately, I look horrendous with my hair up. I love long, flowing locks and have not had hair above my shoulder since I could communicate effectively with my hairstylist (back in the early 70s after my mom gave me one too many Twiggy dos).

Can you imagine going to school in upstate NY talking broken English and looking like a boy?

It may be cool now but not then. I've had a phobia of short hair ever since, thanks to mi mamá.

PS - I dropped my Glam Rocker off outside a restaurant called "3 Chefs and a Chicken" for yesterday's Free Art Friday...

...and he was found within minutes.

What was really cool about this week's FAF is that I finally found some art! Look how elegantly matted it is, too.

I'm thinking of working on an Angelina drawing for next week, since she is such a brave and inspirational woman...not to mention she's beautiful. I could also throw Frida out there. We'll see.

Happy Weekend to YOU! Enjoy every moment of it. ♥

ziggy and personal trainers

Although I'm not a fan of early Bowie, I thought "Ziggy Stardust" would be a fun addition for this week's Free Art Fridays. I really like the small, heavier mixed media boards for quick drawings.

My daughter joined a health club yesterday and because she's under 18 I got a call from a guy at the facility asking if he could show her how to use the equipment. I said sure, that would be nice, and about two hours later she called telling me she was dying (being a little dramatic).

Apparently, three different "personal trainers" gave her the biggest workout of her life. I had to call the club and tell them not to "train" her anymore (they charge your credit card extra for agreeing to such things...as if the pricey membership weren't enough). The manager told me it was just an orientation. Riiiight...that's why she came home not knowing how any of the equipment worked and telling me how many times they asked her, "Do you think your parents would pay for you to have a personal trainer?" 

I had to train her on how to say NO to pushy salespeople. It's not easy when you're a polite, young girl from a nice family with an exceptionally sweet mom but we live and learn, don't we? Ya tú sabes. ;)

Mamita Dearest and a Bright Buddha

Here's my latest drawing in colored pencil and graphite.

Hope no one gets offended by her. You know my sense of humor is not at all normal.

Seriously, I wish all the mommies out there a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I spent a big part of today with just my daughter, which is a rare thing...so I'm happy already. We did a yoga class in the morning and with my vertigo, it was challenging, but I still loved it and hope to sign up for the next session soon. Luckily, I'm flexible.

After yoga we went Mother's Day shopping for my mom and ended up at a Chinese art store. I bought a pretty vase from the daughter of an old Chinese woman. The older lady kept trying to sell me a glow-in-the-dark Buddha, but even though he's supposed to bring good luck, it's not something my mother would appreciate. The old woman (in a heavy Chinese accent I could barely understand) escorted my daughter and I through a beaded doorway and led us into the bathroom where she immediately turned off the light so we could see Buddha glow. While we were in the dark she explained how wonderful Buddha is for power outages, and I'm thinking, how did we get lured into a dark room by an old Asian woman...and if Buddha is such good luck, why worry about a power outage?? She wanted me to buy him so my mother wouldn't have to pee in the dark during hurricane season (which begins June 1st). Wow! What a saleslady. I almost felt compelled to buy him as a nightlight, but no, I bought her a flowery porcelain vase instead and got the hell out of there before she sold me glow-in-the-dark chopsticks.

We had sushi at a wonderful new place near the house and I photographed one of the workers slicing a fish head because it was not the kind of thing we expected to see while waiting for our food and I found it fascinating to watch how quickly he went through four fish. It made me feel kind of guilty during lunch, but he put on quite a show.

Believe it or not, we'll be having Chinese food in a bit, so I'm off to set the table and open a good wine. Tomorrow we brunch with my parents and keep celebrating mommies!

Enjoy your weekend. ♥

marilyn and mommie

Here is my Marilyn for today's Free Art Friday. I'll be dropping her off in the Wynwood Design District later this morning with a clue or two on Facebook. Can't wait to see who finds her!

Yesterday I posted this drawing I'm currently working on (to add to the Old Hollywood collection).

A few moments later I received a private message from a friend telling me she liked the drawing but it brought back memories for her of a very unhappy childhood. First, her mom committed suicide when she was 8 and then her stepmother gave her hell for quite a few years afterwards. She said watching "Mommie Dearest" made her tremble. I can imagine.

I felt badly for stirring up all those old feelings and I wondered if there were others on my Friends list who've had similar experiences and find my drawing offensive. You know I don't mean to hurt anyone with my choice of subjects, but it will happen every now and then. They can't all be Marilyns. Some were a little bothered by my Sharon Tate (from a previous post) who was linked to the Manson murders, but she was also an actress and was very beautiful, so I drew her for the series.

I'd like to make a colored pencil portrait of Baby Jane after this...so we'll see how that's received.

Happy Weekend! I'm off to drop off and hunt for free art! :)